Appearing in "Recurring Knightmare"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Doctor Doom (Victor von Doom)
- Merlin (First appearance)
- King Arthur (First appearance)
- Lady of the Lake (First appearance) (Hand only)
Antagonists:
- Vance
- Iron Man (Andros Stark) (First appearance)
- Servo-Droids
- Doctor Doom (Victor von Doom) (Earth-8912) (First appearance) (Death)
Other Characters:
- King Arthur's unnamed parents
- Arno Stark (Earth-8912) (Mentioned)
- Anthony Stark (Earth-8912) (Mentioned)
- Shaleen
- Eleonora (Mentioned)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- Earth-616
- Latveria (Mentioned)
- Los Angeles, California, United States of America (Mentioned)
- Earth-8912 (First appearance)
Items:
- Iron Man Armor MK VIII
- Doctor Doom's Armor
- "The Artifact"
- Excalibur
- Pocket cyclotron
- Time Cube
- Arno Stark's armor (as used by Andros Stark)
- Doctor Doom's Control Chair
- S.D.I. Platforms
Synopsis for "Recurring Knightmare"
The artifact mystically transports Iron Man and Doctor Doom forward in time to the year 2093, there to encounter the wizard Merlin and his charge, a pre-pubescent King Arthur. Mysterious deaths are occurring, apparently from space. Since the monarch is too young to face the menace that currently threatens the world, Merlin has brought the two armored antagonists to fight for him.
Doom scoffs at the thought of serving Arthur, and flies off on errands of his own. Iron Man agrees to help, and with some "add-ons" to his armor (procured from the local shopping mall) he flies into space. He discovers a space station, complete with neutron cannon -- and guarded by Andros Stark, the latest iteration of Iron Man. His armor no match for the Iron Man of this time period, Iron Man barely makes it back to Earth.
Meanwhile, Doctor Doom manages to build himself a time platform to return to his time, along with some future tech to make conquering his home time period easier. He discovers, however, that Merlin's spell prevents him from returning until the mission is completed.
The Iron Man of 2093 goes to see his "partner": the Victor von Doom of this era, reduced to a head and a few organs in a mechanical parody of his classic armor. Doom knows that the old Iron Man (and very likely, his past self) have been brought forward in time.
Furious, Doctor Doom rejoins Iron Man, Merlin and Arthur for a trip to the mystical lake (paved over until Merlin's magicks undo the urban renovation) where the Lady offers the sword Excalibur to Iron Man. The sword mystically restores Iron Man's battered armor, enabling him to go back into orbit. Doom feels a mystic summons, telling him where he needs to go to find the perpetrator of the plot. The two fly off on their separate missions.
Iron Man slices through the neutron cannon, then decompresses the space station. Andros's counter-attack is met by Excalibur, which Iron Man uses to deflect the blasts and disable the future Iron Man's propulsion jets.
Doctor Doom encounters his future self. They discuss the scientific and moral implications of their situation. Proclaiming that his "ludicrous" future self is unfit to rule, Doom blasts him to pieces, proclaiming that he will never be reduced to such a sorry state.
Merlin sends the two back to their own era, thankfully with no memory of this event - a good thing, as Doctor Doom had learned through historical records that Anthony Stark is Iron Man!
Notes
- Part of the Acts of Vengeance.
- The story is a sequel to Michelinie's Iron Man #150—which the issue mentions—both literally and stylistically, starting from the first page.
- Some of the stores seen in the "Future" Mall include: Star Mart, Neutrons "R" Us, Radio Shack, and Fredericks of Lunar 6.
- King Arthur appears in a pre-adolescent body and sometimes displays childish tendencies (and sometimes is surprisingly mature). Merlin appears to be an aging hipster, often using slang vernacular.
- Anthony Stark makes several references to Star Wars.
See Also
Links and References
- Grand Comics Database: Iron Man Vol 1 [1]